How Much Discomfort Can I Tolerate?!

Weather - 7 degrees, sunny, windy. An easy run in cold weather. 

#86 

Weather - 18 degrees, clouds. Easy 4.25 miles. I can feel my body getting stronger from the reduced mileage. 5 more day of short runs should have me feeling good. After the run I did 4 sets of strength exercises at Brookens Gym, Stretching, and 15 minute walk home. 

I was planning to run a 9 mile trail race in Rockford this Saturday, but that area was blitzed with snow a few days ago, and the forecast is for a 30 degree day, which means snow will still be on the course. Rather than drive a total of 6 hours, run a risky trail race in cold and snow,  I think it is best to skip the race and train at home. Next race planned will be my first 5k since July, on March 8th, which is less than 4 weeks away. That race should keep me motivated in my training.

#87

z.m. - #1

Weather - 19 degrees, clouds, snow. Easy 3.30 miles run around the neighborhood. Crystal Lake Park has been closed because of flooding, and Busey Woods is also flooded, so I have been running more on residential streets the past week. 

Today while I was working at the park district I began thinking about the upcoming 5k in 3 weeks. I tried to determine the bottom, top, and middle time limits which I feel capable of achieving. Given that my main goal this year is to break 19:00 in a 5k, this first 5k in March will be nowhere close. On March 8th the temperature is likely to be between 30-45 degrees, so I will not have full lung capacity, as I run stronger when the temperature is above 60. I have also done very little speed work this winter, and I am just now beginning hill workouts. The strong part of my current fitness level is my endurance. The times of my final 2 5k's last summer were 19:22. I will need to add 1 minute to that time because of the cold weather, and one more minute because of lack of speed work, which means my goal time for the March 5k will be 21:20. If the temperature is warmer than expected, I may be able to get to 20:40. If the weather is very cold and I feel lousy I may not break 22:00. I recall that my first 5K of last season in early March was run in 22:30. However, I did no winter training last year, so I was running on about 3 weeks of training. I have a good base built this year, so I am confident that I will have the endurance to feel pretty good on the run. The slow predicted time does not worry or bother me, I know once the warm weather arrives, and the speed training commences, I will begin to reap in the summer what I have sowed in the winter. 

#88

z.m. - #2 

Weather - 22 degrees, sunny. 5.25 easy miles with 5 x 1-3 minute accelerations. Afterwards 5 sets of strength exercises at Brookens gym, and stretching. I was inspired to try a new exercise, I think they are called leg-ups, or knee-lifts - I stood in place and began lifting my knees to my chest in a running motion. It was quite difficult to keep this going for more than 45 seconds - I could feel my hip muscles struggle with the high leg lift motion. I did 3 sets. I think I will include this exercise with the others,  if I can improve I think it will help my legs have a stronger drive. 

#89

z.m. - #3 

Weather - 25 degrees, sunny. Easy 4 miles, was finally able to run in Busey Woods, the water level has receded, I did 5 accelerations between 1-3 minutes in length. Afterward 3 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 40 minute walk home. 

#90

z.m. - #4 

Weather - 25 degrees, clouds, windy. Ran through Busey Woods and then when I got to the golf course I did 8 accelerations between 1-2 minutes each. Afterward 4 sets of strength exercises, stretching, and 40 minute walk home. 

#91

z.m. - #5 

Weather - 23 degrees, sunny. Ran 6 miles, 2 being run at threshold pace because I was feeling strong and fresh, I guess 7 days of easy runs will do that. There are a few factors to consider in my feeling good - 1) One week of reduced mileage run at an easy pace. 2) The new leg exercise I have been practicing (knee-ups) appears to be having a positive effect on the driving force of my stride. 3) I started taking a vitamin B12 supplement.

A few years ago I noticed a drop in my overall energy level. I thought it may be an iron deficiency and since then I have tried to eat foods that are high in iron content. Being a vegetarian makes this more challenging, so my main iron sources come from fortified GrapeNuts cereal, spinach salads, and cooking foods in an iron skillet. I felt a slight increase in energy from this nutritional change, but I recently discovered that B12 is a vitamin that vegetarians can lack, since it is  found in most meats and dairy. I don't drink much milk, and only in the past year has my egg consumption gone up, due to owning my own chickens. I realize that my B12 stores are probably quite low, and since this vitamin is necessary for healthy blood, I thought it may also help my running efforts. So this week I began taking the supplement. It is too early to tell if it will have a positive effect on my energy level and running, but I am hoping it will. 

#92

z.m. - #6